the lifeboat

i'm sorry to any anti don miller-ite's out there, but reading "Searching For God Knows What" has been a cool experience for me. i'm in the part of the book where miller just talks about who he thinks Jesus is. check this out-

since the beginning of humanity, after the fall of man, we've been wired with a "lifeboat" mentality. lemme explain. miller tells about how, early in his education, a teacher asked, if there were a lawyer, a homeless man, a handicapped man, a buisness woman, and a teacher (this isn't the real example from the book, but go with me here), and they were all in a lifeboat in the ocean, and one had to be thrown out, who should be tossed?

what we learn from this kind of thinking is that society, and people specifically, whether or not they mean to do it, place different value on different people. we feel we have to defend our spot on the lifeboat, making sure we are "cool", "liked", "valuable", and so on. there are certain rules of conduct in this lifeboat mentality, certain ways you can't act. you spot in the boat is the number one most important thing, and even christians unconsciously cling to this.

then we have Jesus. it seemed like this guy wasn't playing the lifeboat game. in fact, it kinda seemed like He was purposely trying to lose. nothing He did was inspired by seeing His own glory or fame. He loved people, so so so dearly. thats why He blew away social and religious walls and simply wanted to be with people. people liked being with Jesus because He made them feel whole, which is exactly what you would expect from a person coming in contact with the God whom they have been separated from all this time.

He didn't care about the lifeboat. this convicts me more than you can understand. i am so very guilty of the lifeboat mentality. trying to prove my own worth while constantly, consciously or unconsciously judging the worth of other people, trying to determine if they are worth my time. i know this sounds terrible, but i honestly think it's something we all deal with from deep down inside. i am making myself see it. i am asking God to change me.